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www.postmagazine.com 19 POST FEBRUARY 2015 yearly schedule like? "We shot in Austin, Houston, San Marcos, Big Bend — all over Texas, though we were sort of based out of Austin. We did a lot of road trips, so it was like a road movie. We were always on the run, and there's a ton of cars and car shots. There's 143 scenes total, and we had to work fast on a very small budget, so we'd shoot for about three days a year. But then that'd take two or three weeks of production each time, to get all the crew together, prep and location scout, and do any addi- tional casting and intensive rehearsals and so on. So the actual shoots would be like these sprints. So the film was incredibly lop-sided in terms of all the prep time and then post and editing time spent around those three days each year." This was shot by two of your regular DPs — Lee Daniel and Shane Kelly. How did that work and what did they bring to the mix? "It was more of a scheduling thing. Our shooting was always dictated by cast avail- ability, as everyone's always busy doing other projects and movies, so once we'd nailed down our dates, we'd just try and get back as many of the crew as we could. And ultimately, we had quite a lot of peo- ple who worked on it for over 10 years, and some that were on it for all 12. I think we had over 400 people work on it over the years, so it was like this big, fun, traveling circus that just built up momentum." Where did you do the post? How long was the process? "We posted as we went along, in my offices in Austin. We'd edit what we'd just shot and then as that material filled up we'd then attach that to all the foot- age we'd cut before it, so I'd have this ever-expanding film I could reference, along with the department heads. It'd sit on the shelf for a while, and then I'd go back and watch it as we got closer to production again. And I'd have a year to think about it and write stuff before we started shooting again. So there was a lot of gestation and thinking time... By the end I was able to go back in and cut stuff and shape stuff over a 12-year peri- od, which is pretty amazing. And I'd also trim and then add material back in — as it was stuff I'd miss later." Post was obviously crucial. Do you like post? "I love post and everything you can do to shape your film, but I actually feel the most creative in rehearsal and then shooting. That's when I feel like I'm really making the film. I don't feel like I've ever 'found' the film in the edit and post, like some directors do. There's a certain sche- matic at work that I'm trying to follow." The film was edited by longtime collaborator Sandra Adair. Tell us about that relationship and how it works? "I used to cut my own stuff when I be- gan, like all filmmakers, and then she cut Dazed and Confused 22 years ago and we've been a team ever since. I think we share the same brain at this point, a cer- tain shorthand, we have great chemistry, and she's just really good. She did an amazing job, and she got a co-producer credit as she was so integral to making this film. It's really rare when an editor can just weigh in on a film as it's being made. Usually when I edit with Sandra, we're sitting there in post after it's shot, and trying to make it work. But with this, the dynamic was such that we could sit and discuss it all at length. 'Is this ele- ment really working? What's not work- ing? What does it need?' So it was like all these therapy sessions, where we'd shoot for three days and then spend all this time in post and editing, shaping the story as we went. It was kind of like a time-sculpture, and to do that in a narra- tive context was truly amazing." How many visual effects shots are there in the film, if any? "We did some image stabilization and ti- dying up, but there's no traditional VFX." Can you talk about the importance of music and sound to you as a filmmaker? Where did you do the mix? "I always knew the music would be a huge part of this as it's really a period piece, but we were uniquely shooting it in the present tense. And music is so big in triggering memories. But I also knew that a score wouldn't work. It would feel too authorial. I wanted audiences to just get lost in the movie, so all the period songs became very important, and getting all that right was a big part of post. And we did the mix in Austin on a Dolby-approved stage." The DI must have been vital. Where did you do it and how did that process help? "We did it at Stuck On On in Austin, where we did the VFX. I'm a big fan of the DI, and we were able to even every- thing out, especially all the different light levels in the driving scenes, but I try not to go too crazy in the DI — nothing that'd draw attention to itself. And we had a good basic negative." You're one of the few people still shooting film. Is film dead? "I don't think so. Economically it's changed, obviously, but I don't think it's going away, and I hope we always have it as a choice." Austin's Stuck On On performed the DI. DIRECTOR'S CHAIR